From Zero to Inifinity in a Flash

Infinity is a very difficult concept to wrap the brain around. When I was taking Integral Calculus (which I nearly failed) we would often have to integrate from zero to infinity without so much as batting an eyelash. We take zero for granted yet it is different from any other finite number. For example any number multiplied by zero is zero, and any number divided by zero is infinity.

Infinity, on the other hand has its own special qualities. It is not a number at all, but is unbounded. It has no limit. Pick any large number such as the national debt and divide it by infinity and the result is zero. Infinity reduces anything to zero by comparison.

A baby compared to me is very small, but compared to the earth I am reduced to an invisible dot. And compared to the solar system the earth is a very small dot. The solar system compared to our galaxy is a tiny spec and our galaxy is infinitesimal compared to our universe. And as difficult as it may seem to imagine, our universe becomes nothing when compared to infinity. Infinity is such a difficult concept to grasp that it drove more than one mathematican out of his mind.

George Cantor, a Jewish mathematician, thought that he would be able to comprehend God  (the Aleph), the infinite creator of the universe, if he could only understand infinity. He lost his mind, but he developed a whole new branch of mathematics that we now study as Set Theory.

Recommended reading:

“The Mystery of the Aleph”, by Amir D. Aczel

Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity.

http://hammerbooks.org/bookaczel3.html